


Afraid of Losing You

by Nebulapaws



Series: Nebula's Bad Things Happen Bingo [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-05
Updated: 2020-03-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:01:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23020627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nebulapaws/pseuds/Nebulapaws
Summary: It started with a childish promise.A childish promise to never ever leave.Maybe if Percy never promised he'd stay, he'd never would have fallen intohellfor her.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase & Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson
Series: Nebula's Bad Things Happen Bingo [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1645132
Comments: 5
Kudos: 59





	Afraid of Losing You

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so!! I'm not really extremely proud of this--I had a concept, and I wasn't able to articulate it very well and honestly hh. ALSO the Hidden Scars thing is also a bit hard for me too, just because well, y e a h--
> 
> THOUGH I did want to do smth different with Hidden Scars, which was like, Hidden mental scars. I really hope you guys like it ;w;

It started with a childish promise. 

He’d found her one day, before the end of his first year at camp, sobbing and hiccuping near a pine tree. She was curled up into a ball, clutching her baseball cap like a lifeline. 

He’d gone up to her, stepped in front of her--just so she knew he was there--and gave her a timid smile. For a moment, he realized that she probably didn’t want to be bothered, that she was gonna hit him or something for jumping on her when she was at her most vulnerable. 

But she sniffled and curled more into herself. 

“Hey, are you okay?” 

She was most definitely  _ not _ okay. 

She looked up at him with glassy red-rimmed grey eyes. Her gaze was faraway, deep in thought. A different kind of thought. She nodded dolefully. Their silence was only broken by Annabeth’s occasional sniffle or cry. 

She inhaled deeply, steadying herself. “Why does everyone wanna leave me?” 

It caught him by surprise. 

For a moment, he didn’t understand what she meant by that. Until it finally clicked.  _ Luke _ . 

Percy knew very little about Annabeth, he decided. He knew that she ran away at a young age, and at some point met Luke and the mysterious Thalia. He knew Thalia died when they got to camp, and Annabeth was left with Luke. 

And Luke left too. 

He knew how that felt. Even though he’d only really met his dad once, for the longest time he felt a pooling thorn of betrayal, at the fact his father had left him with…with…

_ Gabe. _

He couldn’t imagine having your friends, who you knew for so long, leave you for something else, something  _ dark _ . Something that  _ hurts _ . 

In the present, Annabeth sniffled with renewed cries. “Really, I should have expected it,” 

For a moment, Percy didn’t know what to do. Expect it? She shouldn’t have to. She shouldn’t expect all of her loved ones to leave her and never come back. He pulled her into a barely perceptible hug. “Hey hey,” 

She looked towards him, not unlike a kicked puppy. He didn’t wanna see her that sad. It felt like a vice over his heart. Foolishly, he said “I promise, I’ll never ever leave you,” 

Her eyes were glassy, lost in a distant memory. Perhaps she’d gotten a promise similar to this. A promise from some stupid guy who’d left her in the dust anyways. Well Percy wasn’t that stupid guy, he cared about her, she was his  _ friend _ . He gave her a dopey smile, if not to make her feel better. 

She huffed--that familiar, kinda cute sound she made when he did something particularly stupid. “Promise?” 

He intertwined their pinkies--a stupid thing,  _ he knows _ but something tells him that this’ll mean more, and won’t kill him if he accidentally breaks it as a Styx promise would. “Promise.” 

X x x x X

Percy’s expression was unreadable. 

He’d been offered  _ immortality _ . Why was he hesitating so much? Was it because he wanted to put it in a nice way? Did he want more? That didn’t really seem that much like Percy, did it? 

A thought whispered unbidden in her mind:  _ was he gonna leave me too?  _

She violently stuffed down that thought. 

No.  _ No.  _

She tried to ignore the fact that her mother was gazing at her, gauging her reaction. Annabeth was too focussed on trying to understand Percy’s expression, trying to predict what he was gonna say. 

Trying to find the best way to hide away the  _ pain _ . 

His chest puffed out and he gave one of his troublemaker smiles that made her heart thrum and her head spin. For a moment, all she could think is  _ Gods, he’s gonna leave _ . 

“No,” 

Annabeth’s heartbeat picked up.  _ Why? Why did he say no? Was it because of me? I sure hope so--no no this is good for him, why-- _

Despite the relief that was flooding into her shoulders, relaxing her posture, she felt a little guilty. Percy could have been happy being immortal. No worry about death, about old age, about just…  _ anything. _

She probably looked like a kicked puppy. 

But then, he turned to her with so much  _ love _ in his eyes that she relaxes almost immediately. She feels her heart flutter. He mouthed one word, one very clear word: “ _ Promise _ ”

Her heart positively melted. 

X x x x X

Everything hurt. It hurt to breathe, hurt to walk, hurt to  _ think _ . Annabeth knew she was probably going to die. Her thoughts were scrambled like a frightened bee hive, her muscles ached and she groaned with every step. She was in Percy’s arms, the only thing she knew for sure, and all she wanted to do was  _ sleep _ for a thousand years. 

She felt something  _ pull _ on her ankle. She whimpered in pain. 

“HER ANKLE! CUT IT OFF!” Hazel screamed.  _ That’s weird. What’s wrong with my ankle? _

Then it all happened so fast. 

One moment, she was in Percy’s warm arms, tiredness filling her bones and weighing her down into a troubled sleep. Then, she was woken up suddenly by the sharpest pain she’d ever felt, and then Percy was  _ slipping away _ or was  _ she _ slipping away? 

Then she nearly vaulted right over the side of the edge of the hole to Tartarus. 

But he  _ grabbed _ her hand. 

His fingers were slightly sweaty, but he held on painfully tight, to the point where purple twinged her finger tips. Pain exploded up her ankle, and shot to her brain like a drug, and drove away all the fuzziness she felt before. She was hanging over  _ hell _ . The only thing stopping her was  _ Percy _ . If he didn’t let go of her, he was gonna fall too. 

No. that’s not fair. 

“Percy! Let go! You’re gonna fall in too!” She shouted over the  _ roaring _ in her ears. Her heart was thudding a mile a minute, and her head was throbbing and she wanted it to  _ stop. Why can’t this be a bad dream, please be a bad dream, please please pleas-- _

“NO! I won’t let you! I  _ promised _ !” He shouted. She thought he said something to Nico--who was now trying to help Percy get back up on the edge of the hole--but she didn’t notice.  _ Promise?  _

_ Oh, gods. _

She remembered the promise they had when they were little kids when they were just  _ twelve.  _ She’d told him what she’d been bottling up for  _ years _ . Percy had made a promise, that he’ll never leave her. She never told him the full story, she hid just how much Luke had  _ hurt _ her from him. 

Tears welled up in her eyes. 

Before she could process just what was happening, Her stomach lurched, and they  _ fell _ . 

She had only one thought before she was plunging into Tartarus; “ _ I love you _ ” 

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and Kudos bring me life and inspiration!


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